Job 38:1-26

1 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:

2 “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?

3 Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.

5 Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line?

6 What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone

7 as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

8 “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb,

9 and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness?

10 For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores.

11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’

12 “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?

13 Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?

14 As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors.

15 The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence.

16 “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths?

17 Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?

18 Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know!

19 “Where does light come from, and where does darkness go?

20 Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there?

21 But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!

22 “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail?

23 (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.)

24 Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind?

25 “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning?

26 Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives?

Job 38:1-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 38

In this chapter the Lord takes up the controversy with Job; calls upon him to prepare to engage with him in it, and demands an answer to posing questions he puts to him, concerning the earth and the fabric of it, Job 38:1-7; concerning the sea, compared to an infant in embryo, at its birth, in its swaddling bands and cradle, Job 38:8-11; concerning the morning light, its spread and influence, Job 38:12-15; concerning the springs of the sea, the dark parts of the earth, the place both of light and darkness, Job 38:16-21; concerning the various meteors, snow, hail, rain, thunder, lightning, and the influences of the stars, Job 38:22-38; and concerning provision for lions and ravens, Job 38:40,41.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew the sons of God.
• [b]. Or its features stand out like folds in a robe.